The Pepin County Board has approved a CBDG grant totaling $180,000 for three separate projects. The projects include ADA updates to Holden and Silver Birch and Stockholm Village Parks. Pepin County Economic Director Kevin Trushenski says two areas of blight in Arkansaw and Durand will be removed.
As the next phase of the covid 19 vaccine rollout begins in Wisconsin, area health departments are designing waitlists. Pepin County Health Officer Heidi Stewart says the waitlists will help the Health Department get ready for the larger groups wanting the vaccine. Visit the Pepin County Website and click on the Covid 19 link to get to the waitlist. Stewart says so far nearly 400 people have signed up.
A Cameron woman has been arrested and is accused of trafficking a child. According to authorities, Amanda Eyman sent messages to Paul Osterman on the web site Meet Me discussing trading a child under the age of 10 to Osterman in exchange for money and drugs. Osterman who is going by the name of Jake George is currently facing charges of trafficking a child in Marathon and Lincoln Counties.
Wisconsin's members of Congress are reacting to the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Congressman Ron Kind says it’s time to set aside the bitter partisanship and join together to tackle the unprecedented challenges facing all Americans, starting with the need to implement a national, coordinated plan to defeat COVID-19. Fellow Democrat Mark Pocan said, "after four years of corruption, bigotry, chaos, and crisis, we have a chance to build our country back to better serve all Americans who have been left behind for far too long." Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher said despite our political disagreements, I stand ready to work with them on enormous challenges facing our country and I will be praying for them and their families. The Republican Party of Wisconsin issued a statement thanking President Trump for his service but did not mention President Biden or Vice President Harris.
Three people are facing drug charges after a traffic stop near Rochester led to large amounts of methamphetamine and oxycodone. The Olmsted County Sheriff's Office says 47-year-old Matthew Lyman of Mantorville was pulled over Sunday. Deputies found about five pounds of meth and four-thousand oxycodone pills in the car along with two handguns. Investigators searched a home Tuesday and seized another nine pounds of meth. Fifty-seven-year-olds Douglas Howard and Ann Jessen-Ford were both arrested.
A group of Minnesota parents, coaches, and athletes is challenging a mandate requiring kids to wear masks while playing sports. Let Them Play MN filed a motion in federal court Tuesday, claiming the Minnesota Department of Health and Walz administration were inconsistent in their attitude towards youth sports. The group argues outbreaks linked to youth sports were less severe than in other areas and didn't warrant an earlier shutdown or the mask requirement. They cited health risks including reduced visibility while wearing a mask that could lead to an increase in injuries. The group's previous lawsuit was rejected.
Three Wisconsin state senators – two Republicans and a Democrat – have introduced a bipartisan package of police reform bills. The legislation backed by Republican senators Van Wanggaard and Alberta Darling, and Democratic senator Lena Taylor, would establish an independent board to review use-of-force situations. The package of seven bills proposes banning the use of chokeholds, establishing Community Oriented Policing grant programs, establishing protections for whistleblowers, and introducing reforms to fire and police commissions in Milwaukee and Madison. Taylor says the legislation isn’t perfect but is a good start. The independent board would include attorneys, police union members, academy training instructors, and a mental health advocate. The Wisconsin Professional Police Association supports the reforms.
The nomination of state Agriculture Secretary Randy Romanski has been referred to a Senate committee, a sign he may be confirmed to the post. Governor Tony Evers made Romanski interim secretary in 2019 after the Senate rejected Brad Pfaff's nomination, and then appointed him to the post in June. Pfaff is now in the state Senate. Safety and Professional Services Secretary Dawn Crim and Transportation Secretary Craig Thompson are the only members of Evers' original cabinet who have yet to be confirmed by the state Senate. Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm and Tourism Secretary Sarah Meaney both left the Evers administration without ever being confirmed.
Beware of N-F-C championship game tickets offered online right now. There’s a good chance they’re fake. The real tickets for Sunday’s big game are sold out. While there are some reputable online sites to buy tickets second-hand, the Better Business Bureau says offers from individuals should be viewed with skepticism. The B-B-B says since tickets are digital, do not send money ahead of time, and double-check to make sure the seats you’re buying actually exist.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will hold a special meeting Friday to discuss the implementation of a wolf hunt. Republicans on the Legislature’s sporting heritage committees have demanded that a hunt be scheduled immediately. Members of the Natural Resources Board got a letter last week saying wolves need to be hunted now before the Biden administration returns them to the federal Endangered Species list. They were removed last fall and the D-N-R had planned to have a season this year in November. Wisconsin statutes call for annual hunting and trapping seasons if federal protection is removed.
If you’re over the age of 65, you can be vaccinated against COVID-19. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services says starting next week anyone that age and older will be eligible to get the vaccine. There is a catch. A D-H-S spokesperson says it may be weeks or even months before everyone who is eligible can get the shot. There are an estimated 700-thousand people over 65 living in Wisconsin. Right now, the state is finalizing the list of people who will be declared eligible in the next round – which reportedly will include teachers and prisoners. As of Tuesday, 40-thousand people in Wisconsin have received both shots and are fully vaccinated against the virus.
Two of the three people charged with first-degree intentional homicide in a Rusk County double murder have made a court appearance. Twenty-two-year-old Adam Rosolowski and 18-year-old Joseph Falk appeared from the Rusk County Jail by Zoom Tuesday. There are accused of killing Rosolowski’s grandparents last year. Sixteen-year-old Tristan Shober is also charged, but he didn’t make a court appearance. The judge ordered an evaluation for Falk after his attorney changed his plea to not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. The victims were killed near the Village of Sheldon last June.
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction reports that nearly half of the state’s schools used seclusion or physical restraint with a student. The numbers come from the 2019-2020 school year. Seclusion was used just over 87-hundred times and physical restraint nearly 98-hundred times. The vast majority of instances involved students with disabilities. The D-P-I says it will continue working with school districts to identify better strategies and increase the use of intervention techniques that work. Any time either approach is used, Wisconsin schools now have to send a report to the D-P-I. The parents also get a written copy.
Prosecutors are asking the judge to reconsider his decision to hold two trials for Minneapolis police officers in the George Floyd case. They point to the dangers of COVID-19 exposure as a major reason. As it stands now, Derel Chauvin’s trial is set to start March 8th, while former officers Thomas Lane, J-Alexander Kueng, and Tou Thao go on trial August 23rd. University of Minnesota infectious disease expert Doctor Michael Osterholm says holding one trial in the summer would present fewer health risks due to the pandemic. Osterholm says holding Chauvin’s trial in March could have “potentially catastrophic consequences for public health.” He and prosecutors think more people will have been vaccinated by August.
Milwaukee will accept nearly ten-million dollars for new police officers after all. The city’s common council is accepting the latest federal COPS grant. Milwaukee has accepted COPS grants for years, but objections were raised last year, amid the national conversation about police brutality. Alder Chantia Lewis says Milwaukee can accept the money -- and reform its police department at the same time. The grant will help Milwaukee hire 30 new police officers.
Wisconsin’s largest farm organization accuses the Department of Natural Resources of dragging its feet on wolf management. The Wisconsin Farm Bureau's Tyler Wenzlaff says the D-N-R has had months to go through the process and there's is no reason to delay a hunting season until next winter. Wenzlaff says it's quite clear in state law that they can hold a wolf hunt yet this winter. The gray wolf was removed from the Endangered Species List in October and officially delisted on January 4th. The D-N-R is planning for a wolf season in the fall of 2021. Wenzlaff says the agency does not need additional time to develop that.
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